Background: Conflict in romantic relationships is one of the most common interpersonal challenges in adulthood, and the way individuals manage conflict plays a crucial role in the stability and quality of these relationships. Childhood traumatic experiences and insecure attachment styles are well-established factors that may shape conflict management patterns in adulthood through their influence on emotion regulation strategies.
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the roles of childhood trauma and attachment styles (attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance) in conflict management styles within romantic relationships, with emotion regulation strategies as a mediating variable.
Method: The statistical population consisted of students at Persian Gulf University, Bushehr. Using a multistage cluster sampling method, 448 participants were selected. Data were collected using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised (ECR-R) questionnaire, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale–16 (DERS-16), and the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory–II (ROCI-II). Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the bootstrap method in AMOS software.
Results: Attachment anxiety and childhood trauma had significant direct effects on difficulties in emotion regulation, whereas attachment avoidance did not significantly predict emotion regulation difficulties. Attachment avoidance was positively associated with the avoiding and dominating conflict management styles and negatively associated with the integrating and compromising styles. Childhood trauma showed a significant association only with the integrating conflict management style. None of the hypothesized mediating effects of emotion regulation strategies were supported. Relationship status (single vs. currently in a romantic relationship) significantly moderated two structural paths, whereas gender did not demonstrate a significant moderating effec